Edwards Tries to Raise Bankruptcy

WASHINGTON – Senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) has floated an attempt to make bankruptcy a higher profile in the ongoing Presidential campaign. Edwards is one of the candidates for the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 2004. “We face a quiet crisis in America. Middle class families stand on the edge of a financial cliff, and unless we act, more and more families will fall off of that cliff,” Edwards said in a prepared statement. “We have seen a historic change in the last generation. A generation ago, Americans were saving 11 percent of their income and had just 4 percent of their income in credit card debt. Today, Americans are not saving at all, and they have 12 percent of their income in credit card debt. Our families are just one lost job or one medical emergency away from bankruptcy. We need a president who sees the crisis and will act to stop it. First, we need to help families find their way out of debt, with strong measures to crack down on abusive mortgage lenders, payday lenders, and credit card companies,” he added.